“Selected an Excellent Choice Credit Union. Eagle Community CU has loyally served the Orange county California area since 1937."
By: Allan R Kirby
We review Credit Unions:
Mysmallbank.com feels compelled to find the best credit unions and community banks in order to write a small review. These reviews are to help you learn more about community banks, possibly one that's in your area that you might be interested in. In this review we are choosing the following local Credit Union:
Location: Lake Forest
Headquartered: P.O. Box 5196 Lake Forest, CA, 92609
Branches: 6
Year Established: 1937
Review:
Eagle Community Credit Union (ECCU) is a well-run credit union that provides full-service banking to members in the area of Orange County. It's also a credit union that has all the services needed to meet your banking needs. As a bonus we found employees working at Eagle community credit union highly rate working at the credit union. Our decision to name Eagle Community CU, Excellent Choice Credit Union, was based on our own research on reviews, services offered as well as their commitment to their membership and the communities they serve. What we found was a great community credit union for potential members who are living in the Orange County area should take a serious look. We think this credit union has what it takes to meet all of your banking needs. The following details our review.
Eagle Community Credit Union currently has close to $272 million in assets, 6 branches, and nearly 21,000 members. ibanknet. Additionally, they have a history of providing services to their members since the Credit Union's founding in 1937 as the Orange County Postal Credit Union.
"Overall we did not find any serious problems with this Credit Union, they provide excellent service and have a commitment to the community."
To begin, we had to go through a lot of reviews to see how people felt about the credit union. We fully understand that not everyone will get the service they are looking for and will be disappointed with their banking experience. Having said that, we felt that overall this credit union has a high level of satisfaction and appears to be a great credit union for potential members looking for a change. Overall the credit union has an above average rating on Yelp as well as other review websites. We did not see any systemic problems or concerns with the overall services products provided by the credit union and many members spoke highly of the credit union. Given the number of years in service, the size of the membership, and the small number of complaints, it's clear the vast majority of members enjoy banking at this credit union.
"Wow a perfect 5 out 5 from every employee review on Work/Life Balance at Eagle Community Credit Union."
What really stood out was the high satisfaction employees have worked at ECCU. It is clear employees highly value their employment at the credit union. We know that when employees value their employment it can be reflected in better service for credit union members. We normally do not see ratings as high as we did with Eagle Community CU and was one of the reasons for our decision to review the credit union.
We will now provide you some highlights of specific products and services Eagle Community CU provides its members that we liked. We will let you judge for yourself if these are the types of services you are looking for.
Member of "Love My Credit Union"
Eagle Community CU is a member of LMCUR. This allows Eagle Community CU members to receive exclusive discounts. Members can access the LoveMyCreditUnion.org website and see the exclusive, credit union member prices and rewards with popular programs to save on. This includes Hotels, Theme Parks, and major brands such as Sprint Cash Rewards, TurboTax, Sprint, Turbotax, FinancialLock, etc.
Financial Counseling
Eagle Community CU, ECCU, provides financial counseling covering topics such as debt management, bankruptcy, or credit report review. You can actually call and chat with a certified counselor directly. This is a great service to provide members who may need a little extra help getting themselves back on their feet.
Opportunity to build credit
Mastercard® Credit Builder Credit Card
We love it when there are opportunities for people to build credit. The MasterCard credit builder credit card does that. It helps people who either have trouble getting approved for a traditional credit card, want to restore or repair your credit or are trying to build new credit. This is the perfect card for this. The card has the following features:
13.9% Fixed APR
Limits $500 up to $5,000
No Annual Fee, No Balance Transfer Fee, and No Over-limit Fee
I have helped people use this to build credit before and it works well. However, you will need to put up some money in order to get the credit card as explained below.
Requirements
You are required to deposit 110% of your credit limit in a special savings account to secure your credit line. Use the card responsibly and watch your credit score increase! For example, if you want a $1,000 credit limit, deposit $1,100 in a special savings account (yes, it earns interest too). To qualify you simply need to be a member of the credit union and be able to make the minimum monthly payments to be approved.
Note: Always discuss in detail with the credit union to make sure you fully understand how you should use and make payments with the credit card. This way you have a clear understanding of what you need to do in order to build your credit responsibly.
Commitment to the Community
Each year, Eagle awards scholarships to members pursuing a college degree. To date, we've contributed over $200,000 to students to help further their education. Check back in early Spring for our 2019 scholarship. Additionally, Eagle Community Credit Union is active with the Children's Miracle Network and Children’s Hospital Of Orange County (CHOC) as well as the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.
Excellent Choice Credit Union:
With good customer satisfaction, great service, commitment to their community, and a highly rated place to work from employees, it's not hard to see why this is such a great Credit Union. This is why Mysmallbank.com believes Eagle Community CU is well deserved to receive the designation of Excellent choice, Credit Union [2]. So if you're looking for a great community-based credit union and you live or plan to live in Orange County, California area this could be a great financial institution for you.
Finally, we found that Eagle Community CU is a federally insured credit union through NCUA [1].
Who is Eligible:
Membership with Eagle Community Credit Union is straightforward, You are required to live, work, worship, or attend school in Orange County then you are eligible and membership just requires a $5 one-time membership fee.
Apply Now to become a member.
The following provides additional information on Eagle Community CU services, branches as well as hours of operation.
Services Offered:
Full-Service Credit Union: Yes
Routing Number: 322281992
Banking:
Kasasa Accounts
Checking Accounts
Savings Accounts
IRAS
Credit Union Loans:
Vehicle Loans
Credit Cards
Personal Loans
Home Loans
Student Loans
REEL Loans
Energy Loans
Insurance
Credit Card: Master Card
Credit Union Online
Online and Mobile Banking: Yes
Eagle Community CU Branch Locations:
Lake Forest Branch
24336 Rockfield Blvd.
Lake Forest, CA 92630
Phone: 800-324-5328
Lobby Hours:
M, T, W, Th, F: 10:00am - 4:00pm Sat: 10:00am - 2:00pm
Laguna Niguel Branch
24000 Avila Road
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Phone: 800-324-5328
*Branch temporarily closed
Santa Ana Branch
3101 West Sunflower Avenue
Santa Ana, CA 92799
Phone: 800-324-5328
Lobby Hours:
M, T, W, Th, F: 10:00am - 4:00pm
*Branch closed from 1:00pm - 1:45pm.
*Branch located in Post Office lobby.
Garden Grove Branch
12934 Harbor Boulevard
Garden Grove, CA 92840
Phone: 800-324-5328
Lobby Hours:
M, T, W, Th, F: 10:00am - 4:00pm Sat: 10:00am - 2:00pm
Placentia Branch
781 Kimberly Avenue
Placentia, CA 92870
Phone: 800-324-5328
Lobby Hours:
M, T, W, Th, F: 10:00am - 4:00pm Sat: 10:00am - 2:00pm
City of Industry Branch
15421 Gale Avenue
City of Industry, CA 91715
Phone: 800-324-5328
Lobby Hours:
M, T, W, Th, F: 10:00am - 4:00pm
*Branch located in Post Office lobby.
Are Credit Unions Better vs Banks?
Credit Unions banks are local banks that provide financial services to smaller communities and tend to be better than major banks for a number of reasons which includes:
Better rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposits.
Competitive mortgage rates.
Fees tend to be lower at community banks.
Local deposits are used to make loans to local businesses.
Credit Unions tend to have a better understanding of the communities they serve.
Credit Unions tend to have a more personalized customer service experience and have higher customer satisfaction rates.
Credit Unions provide local jobs and support local charities.
Notes:
1. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is one of two agencies that provide deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. depository institutions. NCUA's standard maximum share insurance amount at $250,000.00.
2. Periodically Mysmallbank.com will name a credit union as a top choice (Top credit union) based on a number of criteria such as customer and employee reviews, complaints, satisfaction, growth, locations, brand, and social responsibility. We only select the best credit unions, so they must meet minimum standards of excellences (Excellent Choice) in order to be reviewed by Mysmallbank.com
In Review is a segment of the MySmallBank.com blog written by Allan R Kirby, who writes and produces Personal Finance articles and videos along with My Success Magazine.
Disclosure: mysmallbank.com nor the author received any compensation from the mentioned credit union for this article. The article is our opinion only and is written to help readers learn more about local credit unions.
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